Direct Settlement of Hands-Free Transactions

Abstract

A hands-free transaction is processed by utilizing an account management system to authorize a transaction and to provide payment account information to a payment processing system while allowing the transaction settlement to occur between the payment processing system and the merchant. After the account of the user is verified, a POS device generates a payment authorization request based on a user verification and other transaction information. The POS device transmits the payment authorization request to the account management system, and the account management system identifies the user payment data. The account management system receives an authorization from the payment processing system and transmits the payment authorization to the merchant. The merchant salesperson completes the transaction with the user by providing the product or service being purchased. The payment processing system and the merchant system then settle the transaction without involvement of account management system.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A computer-implemented method to identify user accounts, comprising:
 by one or more computing devices of an account management system:
 transmitting, to a merchant computing system, a merchant identifier for the merchant computing system to broadcast in a broadcast transmission via a broadcast device of the merchant computing system, the broadcast device being configured to broadcast the broadcast transmission at a regular interval at a physical merchant location; 
 receiving at a first time, from a user computing device in response to the user computing device being at the physical merchant location and receiving the merchant identifier from the broadcast transmission, the merchant identifier and a user identifier, the user identifier being associated with the user computing device; 
 in response to receiving the merchant identifier and the user identifier from the user computing device at the first time:
 determining that a user associated with the user computing device is at the physical merchant location at the first time; 
 identifying the merchant computing system associated with the merchant identifier received from the user computing device; and 
 retrieving user identification data associated with the user identifier received from the user computing device; 
 
 transmitting, to the merchant computing system, the user identification data prior to the user initiating a transaction subsequent to the first time at a point-of-sale device of the merchant computing system at the physical merchant location; 
 receiving, from the merchant computing system, a transaction authorization request for a transaction subsequent to transmitting the user identification data to the merchant computing system, the transaction authorization request being generated after the user initiates the transaction subsequent to the first time at the point-of-sale device of the merchant computing system, the transaction authorization request comprising the user identifier and transaction data associated with the transaction; 
 identifying based on the user identifier in the transaction authorization request a user account stored in the account management system with which the transaction is to be conducted, the user account identifying a payment account identifier associated with the user identifier in the transaction authorization request; 
 transmitting, to a payment processing system, the payment account identifier and the transaction data; 
 receiving, from the payment processing system, in response to transmitting the payment account identifier and the transaction data, an approval for the transaction; and 
 communicating, to the merchant computing system, the approval for the transaction. 
   
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising mapping, by the one or more computing devices of the account management system, the user identifier to the payment account identifier, the payment account identifier being stored in a database associated with the user. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising requesting, by the one or more computing devices of the account management system, the approval for the transaction from the payment processing system. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 23 , wherein an identification of the one or more computing devices of the account management system does not appear on a record of the transaction at the merchant computing system or at the payment processing system. 
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the user identifier is determined by the merchant computing system via a hands free identification of the user. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising mapping, by the one or more computing devices of the account management system, the user identifier to a payment instrument to be used for the transaction. 
     
     
         27 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the user identification data comprises one or more of a facial template, an audio template, and a challenge and response. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein transmitting the user identification data to the merchant computing system comprises transmitting the user identification data to the merchant computing system for the merchant computing system to store in an entry of a current customer log prior to the user initiating the transaction at the point-of-sale device, and
 wherein receiving the transaction authorization request from the merchant computing system comprises receiving the user identification data and the transaction data associated with the transaction in response to the merchant computing system receiving an indication of selection of the entry associated with the user identification data in the current customer log,   the computer-implemented method further comprising, by the one or more computing devices of the account management system:
 determining that the user computing device has not transmitted the merchant identifier at a second time, the second time being subsequent to the first time by one or multiple of the regular interval; and 
 transmitting, to the merchant computing system in response to determining that the user computing device has not transmitted the merchant identifier at the second time, a request to remove the user identification data associated with the user identifier from the current customer log. 
   
     
     
         29 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage device having computer-executable program instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computer associated with a merchant computing system cause the computer to:
 receive, from an account management system, a merchant identifier; 
 broadcast the merchant identifier at a regular interval via a wireless communication device at a physical merchant location; 
 receive, from the account management system in response to the account management system receiving the merchant identifier from a user computing device that received the merchant identifier from the broadcast of the wireless communication device at a first time, user identification data prior to a user initiating a transaction with a point-of-sale device of the merchant computing system subsequent to the first time, the user identification data being associated with a user identifier for the user within the account management system; 
 select the user identification data associated with the user in response to characteristics associated with the user when initiating the transaction at the point-of-sale device subsequent to the first time matching the user identification data associated with the user and received from the account management system; 
 generate a transaction request, the transaction request comprising the user identifier associated with the user identification data selected and transaction data for the transaction; 
 communicate the transaction request to the account management system; 
 receive an authorization for the transaction from the account management system subsequent to communicating the transaction request to the account management system; 
 communicate a settlement request directly, without any further input from the account management system, to a payment processing system in response to receiving the authorization for the transaction, the settlement request including a request to transfer funds associated with the transaction; and 
 receive the funds from the payment processing system, wherein the funds are transferred from the payment processing system to an account associated with the merchant computing system. 
   
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the user identifier is determined by the merchant computing system via a hands free identification of the user. 
     
     
         31 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein an identification of the account management system does not appear on a record of the transaction. 
     
     
         32 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the user identification data comprises one or more of a facial template, an audio template, and a challenge and response. 
     
     
         33 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the characteristics are comprised of one or more of a captured facial image, a captured audio recording, or a response to a presented challenge. 
     
     
         34 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein receiving the user identification data comprises receiving the user identification data and storing the user identification data in an entry of a current customer log prior to the user initiating the transaction at the point-of-sale device of the merchant computing system,
 wherein selecting the user identification data comprises selecting the entry associated with the user identification data in the current customer log, and   wherein the computer-executable program instructions further cause the computer to:
 receive, from the account management system in response to the account management system determining that the user computing device has not transmitted the merchant identifier at a second time, the second time being subsequent to the first time by one or multiple of the regular interval, a request to remove the user identification data associated with the user identifier from the current customer log; and 
 remove the user identification data associated with the user identifier from the current customer log in response to receiving the request to remove. 
   
     
     
         35 . A system to identify user accounts, comprising:
 a storage device of a merchant computing system; and   a processor of the merchant computing system communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the merchant computing system to:
 receive, from an account management system, a merchant identifier; 
 broadcast the merchant identifier at a regular interval via a wireless communication device at a physical merchant location; 
 receive, from the account management system in response to the account management system receiving the merchant identifier from a user computing device that received the merchant identifier from the broadcast of the wireless communication device at a first time, user identification data prior to a user initiating a transaction with a point-of-sale device at the physical merchant location subsequent to the first time, the user identification data being associated with a user identifier for the user within the account management system; 
 select the user identification data associated with the user in response to characteristics associated with the user when initiating the transaction at the point-of-sale device subsequent to the first time matching the user identification data associated with the user and received from the account management system; 
 generate a transaction request, the transaction request comprising the user identifier associated with the user identification data selected and transaction data for the transaction; 
 communicate, to the account management system, the transaction request for the transaction; 
 receive, from the account management system, an authorization for the transaction subsequent to communicating the transaction request to the account management system; 
 communicate a settlement request directly, without any further input from the account management system, to a payment processing system in response to receiving the authorization for the transaction, the settlement request including a request to transfer funds associated with the transaction; and 
 receive, from the payment processing system, the funds associated with the transaction, wherein the funds are transferred from the payment processing system to an account associated with the merchant computing system. 
   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein an identification of the account management system does not appear on a record of the transaction. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the account management system identifies a payment account identifier based on the user identifier. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the user identification data comprises one or more of a facial template, an audio template, and a challenge and response. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the characteristics are comprised of one or more of a captured facial image, a captured audio recording, or a response to a presented challenge.